The Flying Scotsman

**cessna152towser** · 15th May 16, 09:54 AM

The iconic steam locomotive Flying Scotsman visited our local Borders Railway today for the first time in fifty years.

My lovely wife Gabriele shares my passion for steam trains.

Before she came to Scotland Gabriele was active with Deutsch Dampflok Museum at Neunmarkt-Wirsberg in Gemany, both as a steam train driver and as treasurer and she was welcomed on board the footplate of Flying Scotsman by the train crew.

She loves to drive steam engines, here's one from last year when she was driving the Manston on the Swanage Railway and I was stoking the fire for her, a candid taken with a little pocket camera.

Visit Scotland were on hand at Tweedbank Railway Station hoping to entice the passengers from the Flying Scotsman tour train to come to Scotland again and here we are beside "Hamish on the Moove" a German built Mercedes Vito promotional van for Visit Scotland.

**GrainReaper** · 15th May 16, 11:31 AM

I'm an avid steam locomotive fan, and it brings me great joy to see and hear an operational steamer, the worst thing that can happen is for these beasts to be relegated to a museum, heaps of praise for the people who keep steam alive and running.

**Sinclare** · 16th May 16, 06:35 AM

Too cool! I've always loved that engine, though I wish they'd lose those German-style guards on the front and return it to the original look. Someday, I hope to get a chance to see that and the Mallard - two just beautiful engines.

**neloon** · 16th May 16, 10:58 AM

And then it went over the Forth Bridge and into the Kingdom of Fife
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...ams-into-fife/

Alan

**tulloch** · 16th May 16, 01:52 PM

Bravo Alex! That looks like wonderful fun.

**Reiver** · 16th May 16, 05:26 PM

They are fantastic pieces of machinery are they not. Looks to be in fine kit too.

**Jock Scot** · 17th May 16, 12:49 AM

Its just wonderful to see such a marvellous machine out and about again. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks , but is that the shade of green that it used to steam under? It seems different somehow.

**neloon** · 17th May 16, 01:48 AM

Looks about right to me, Jock. What British Railways called "Brunswick Green".
Alan

**The Q** · 17th May 16, 01:53 AM

The paint job on her at the moment is that of BR Brunswick green (Her lining is BR too) which is similar, but not the same, as the GWR paint scheme of Middle Chrome Green with lining.
For her LNER life, she would have worn LNER Apple green which is a much lighter colour.

**Jock Scot** · 17th May 16, 02:58 AM

Thank you Q, in truth I can't give you the exact colour, but the new colour does look different. She has safely carried me North and South quite a few times. The first was in 1947 and I am pretty sure she was painted black then. I don't remember those panel things on the front either.

I remember the event as mother took my brother and me to London to meet my father, for me at the age of 7 the first time, who was returning from the Far East after the war. A memorable event in lots of ways and I shall never forget when we alighted onto the platform at Edinburgh my father taking us all up to the engine to thank the driver for a safe trip AND being lifted onto the footplate by the driver to have a look inside! Do people still thank the driver these days, I wonder? Much to my children's embarrassment, well they are men now, but on the rare event of us travelling by train these days, I still do walk up to the front engine and thank the driver -----if he is about, which is not always the case.